Electronic component circuit card cages used to support printed circuit cards within an electronic system's enclosure are well-known and widely used. Such card cages support a number of electronic cards in a parallel relationship, typically with narrow clearance between adjacent cards. Each card is plugged into an edge connector carried by an electronic back plane that is perpendicular to the circuit cards. Due to the proximity of the cards within the cage, the location of the cage within an enclosure, and the electrical power consumed, substantial heating may result.
To remove the heat, it is common to have one or more fans to draw air through the enclosure where it circulates about the circuit cards carried by the card cage. However, due to the orientation of the cards and the back plane and the density of the electronics components, air circulation is often inadequate to remove the heat generated while keeping the components within their thermal tolerances.
A more aggressive strategy to remove heat energy is to seal the enclosure and to use spray plates which release a mist of fine droplets of coolant fluid. A greater quantity of heat energy may be removed in this manner, but considerable cost is involved in sealing the enclosure and supporting each circuit card adjacent to an associated spray plate.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an electronic circuit card cage that can support a plurality of circuit cards and which has built-in means to spray cool those cards during operation.